— Hey there, boy.

— Whoa! You're the only one here who speaks japanese!

— Nah, I'm using translation magic.

— Magic? Are you like Unizard?

— Unizard...?

The king was a boy, about the same age as Yuto. He had brown short hair and a white forehead band. His eyes were yellow, but they looked more like snake eyes. He wore a blue and grey coat.

They were in the throne room. Everything was dark except for the rays of sunlight shining through the huge windows above the even larger staircase between the king and Yuto.

There were two people beside the king. One was a boy, shorter than the king. He had dark blue short and straight hair, light blue eyes and wore a brown coat, even though the place was hot like a sauna. His body emitted a cold wind around.

The other was a girl, taller than the other two. She had grey hair, twintail, red eyes and tanned skin. She wore a white royal uniform and a black skirt. She was holding a huge sledgehammer behind her back.

The white-eyed divinity took Yuto to the throne room after healing most of his injuries. Now she was bowing to the three above the stairs. The king scratched his head, trying to remember something.

— ... I think I know who you're talking about. Is she that tall, busty witch with orange hair?

— Yes! Wait, how do you know her?

— She came here often with her brother. We went out every now and then, trained a lot.

She never told me about that! Well, I guess she would say something like "you never asked before"...

— So there's a way back to my world, right? How did she get here?

— I don't know, magic? I don't have much mana, because of my curse.

— I see... I can't use magic either.

— I'm pretty sure you can. But you don't look like the type of fighter who relies on magic anyway.

— How could you tell?

— You don't use magic, but you seem pretty strong to me. And that's saying something.

I don't anything about this world yet... what if he's stronger than me?

— How strong are you? I mean, do you people have a scale?

— We're in my kingdom right now. Unizard told me your world knows what a kingdom looks like, am I right? It's pretty big.

— Yeah. It may be a little different, but it's an easy scale to imagine.

— If I tried really hard, I could wipe thousands of this kingdom in 1 seconds or less.

What?! Even sis would take at least 2 seconds to do that! Well, I guess both are out of my reach anyway...

— That's... surely impressive.

— Oh, come on, I know you can impress me more than I impress you. That's why you're going to fight the strongest royal guard in this kingdom. Everything here is decided by fighting, so you'll have to prove your worth.

— Are your subordinates as strong as you?

— Of course not. Actually, Gimerus is way weaker than us three. I'm sure you can handle him.

— I hope so. Man, why is this place so fucking hot?

— Hot? Oh, I forgot Freet was cooling us down. I don't know, this biome is just hotter than normal.

— That's bullshit, you're just trying to excuse the bad architecture of your castle. Why the dark walls? Are you fucking insane? Your guards will die like this!

The grey-haired girl stepped forward, glaring at Yuto with murderous intent.

— Watch your mouth, mouse. Don't ever disrespect your king.

— He's not even my king!

The king dismissed the concern:

— Tempera, he's right, let's hear what he has to say. After all, his country is more technologically advanced than ours.

— But...

— You know I don't care about respect. Fight is the only thing that matters here.

— Understood, king!

— Now, boy, do you have something against dark walls? They're aesthetically pleasing to me.

— Are you serious? I thought you at least had this knowledge... Dark colors absorb more light than brigther colors, thus warming the environment. This is a fucking stove at this point! How can your guards bear this?

— I don't know, magic? They have more mana than I do. If they can't cool themselves, they aren't worthy of their position.

— You're insane. Is there any good kingdom on this planet? I won't play your little game.

— Actually, thank you, boy. Unizard told me about the dark colors, but I was too busy at the time and forgot. I'll try to do something later. Or not. Freet can just cool the castle instead.

— Busy? Doing what? Also, who the hell is Freet?

— Managing a country is harder than it seems. I have to fight rebellious groups all the time. Freet is my friend right here.

He pointed at the boy with dark blue hair.

— Also, we haven't introduced ourselves yet. My name's Wave, king of Lunig. She's my right arm, Tempera. And Freet is our support. We're the invincible trio.

— Invincible, huh? We'll know about that. I'm Yuto.

— Right, Yuto. Let me ask you something: before you fight Gimerus, do you want any preparation? Like changing your clothes or healing your body?

— I'm fine. Also, I'm sorry for being rude. I'm not used to heat, so it affected my brain.

— Speaking of which, we can cast a spell to cool your body. Otherwise, the heat can make you destroy more than necessary.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

I wasn't complaining because of me. I can cool myself with my power. I was just worried about the guards. But I can't let them know my power yet.

— What about a black t-shirt?

— Wait, really? Didn't you just say this place was a living hell?

— That's the reason. I'll become worthy of your attention if I endure the heat, right?

Oi oi, boy. You're not adjusted to this planet's gravity yet, I know that. Unizard said that her world was smaller... How can you bear the difference in gravity and temperature?

— I guess you're right. Also, forget about the destruction part. This planet is much bigger than yours, so you can break anything you want. Outside of the kingdom, of course.

— Thank you for the advice. I like destruction as much as you do.

Not even a reaction? There's no way you're not impressed by the sheer size of this sandbox. I'm sure your world would collapse if a fight of this magnitude happened.

— Wonderful. Eternia, get this man a black t-shirt.

The white-eyed beauty stood up promptly.

— Understood, king!

Yuto was ready for the fight, now dressed all in black. For some reason, they had clothes almost identical to those on Earth. They were probably imported from another developed nation. He forced himself to use his freezing power constantly, to use it even when he was sleeping.

He was now at the entrance to the castle, at the top of a huge staircase. He looked around. The place was quite big. It was a kind of square, but it also served as an arena. For small-scale fights, of course.

Gimerus was a tall and muscular war veteran. His armor was black, like anything on the castle. Only his head was not covered by the armor. He had short blond hair and several scars on his face. He only had his right arm.

— Greetings, warrior.

— So you're Gimerus. Wait, can't you use magic?

— I can, to some extent. Why the question?

— Your arm... Why didn't you heal it?

— This is a trophy of a great battle. I had no reason to get rid of it.

— I see... I know someone who was like you.

Now that I think about it, why did Exwind have that scar on his face? I guess he and this guard would be great friends.

— Enough talking. Shall we start the fight?

— After you.

Gimerus took a greatsword from his back. It was bigger than Yuto. He swung it, trying to hit his opponent, who jumped to dodge it. The guard was quick enough to kick him and throw his body towards the curb, breaking it. Yuto held onto the edge to keep from falling.

Ouch... Controlling molecules and fighting at once is pretty exhausting. I can't keep hiding my power anymore.

Yuto climbed it and rushed towards Gimerus, who swung his sword again. Yuto crouched down on his knees to slide until he was behind the guard. Predicting it, he stepped on the floor with such strength that their distance increased. He jumped back, not letting Yuto get closer to him.

However, Yuto flew towards him with such speed that he could not see it. His knee connected with the guard's face, launching him away. He travelled tens of kilometers, piercing a mountain in the plateau and falling on the vast and flat surface. Yuto arrived right after.

— I didn't want to destroy your pretty castle. Now we don't have to hold back!

— I'm impressed, warrior. Don't let me down.

Gimerus swung his sword again, but it grew in size. It got big enough to reach Yuto, who was more than 10 meters away. In response, he blocked the massive blade with his arm, sending him flying at least a kilometer away. He punched the ground to slow his momentum.

Suddenly, the place started shaking. The sword became thousands of times larger than the original. It came from below, causing a massive ravine to form. Yuto jumped high enough to reach the clouds. The sword didn't stop.

Yuto waited for it to arrive and grabbed the blade. Smiling, he headbutted it with such force that it broke, sending multiple colossal shrapnel everywhere and destroying mountains in the way. The impact also dissipated the clouds in a kilometer radius and made a crater on the ground.

The rest of the sword was thrown towards him, who catched it with his power and threw it back. Another enormous ravine appeared, changing the barren landscape. Gimerus jumped high enough to throw a punch at Yuto with his maximum strength. The wind erased the clouds in the way.

Yuto punched him the stomach, releasing a shockwave that reached the surface. Then, a kick. Finally, he joined his fists to punch him down, destroying the landscape once more. A huge chunk of land started levitating by Yuto's power. He launched it towards the guard, who punched it, redirecting it. It grew much bigger in the way.

Yuto catched it again and broke it with his power, sending multiple rock spikes everywhere. Gimerus got hit by some, but managed to jump from one to another, until he was closer to Yuto. He punched the air and increased the size of his glove tremendously. It flew towards Yuto, who couldn't catch it in time.

His body was sent so far away that the curvature of the planet became visible. He finally noticed how big it was. There were multiple biomes and some moons were orbiting it.

Alright, here is easier to do that.

Yuto made the glove stay in the air. He landed on top of it and punched it with both hands. Suddenly, the object started freezing. It was slow at first, but then it was already colder than space. Yuto pushed it with his legs.

It fell like a comet, except it was taking longer to melt into the atmosphere. It hit the surface almost intact. The impact was stronger than that of an atomic bomb. Gimerus managed to outrun it by very little.

Yuto arrived behind him and punched his back. Before he could react, Yuto kicked him in a different direction, disorienting him. He continued landing hits so quickly that the guard had to surrender.

— Y-You've passed the trial, warrior!

— Alright.

Yuto stopped immediately. The guard tried to compose himself, but was still scared.

— Thank you, Gimerus.

— I should be the one thanking you. I haven't fought someone as strong as you in years.

— You won't lose your arm this time. I feel like you would keep that as a trophy, so it would be a bit cruel.

— Thank you again, warrior.

Yuto arrived at the castle again. In the hallway, dozens of royal guards full of armor bowed before him.

This is the definition of government by the strong for the strong, huh...

He entered the throne room. The three and Eternia, the white-eyed girl, were waiting for his arrival. She smiled, relieved. Immediately, she turned to face the king and bowed as low as she could.

— My king! I have a favor to ask Your Majesty!

— Why all this, Eternia? We are family.

— This may be sacrilege, so I beg you. Please, can I visit my real family?

— Yeah. Why not?

— R-Really?

— Yes. You haven't seen them in years, right? I have no reason to object.

— Years are nothing to me, my king... but I'm starting to regret some past choices.

— Go ahead. We've only captured you because your brother agreed to it and you didn't really care.

— My head was in another place at that time... Thank you, my king.

Suddenly, the grey-haired girl screamed:

— W-Wait!

Even the king was surprised:

— Tempera? What's on your mind?

— I'm sorry, king! Eternia, y-you're going to meet Stalor, right?

Yuto froze after hearing that name.

Stalor?! She's not talking about the one I know, right? Why would he be here anyway?

— Yes, Tempera-sama. After all, it is to him that I owe the most.

— Can I... go with you? O-On duty, of course! I'll be your bodyguard, that's all!

— I'm pretty sure Yuto is enough to protect me...

Wait, me?!

The dark blue haired boy smiled mischievously.

— Eternia, I think you should let her go with you. She's really eager, can't you see?

Tempera was blushing a bit. It was almost impossible for her to show any emotion. Freet, on the other hand, smiled almost all the time. Now, he had a very good reason to smile. Eternia accepted it:

— Oh... that's okay, Tempera-sama. I will obey any order that comes from you.

Tempera jumped from the top of the stairs and ran towards her room. Eternia smiled to Yuto:

— Thank you, Yuto. Stalor is a dimensional traveler, so I thought you might like to see him. And because of you, I have a reason to visit my family.

— So you were using me this whole time... I'm joking, alright? I want to see your family too. Thank you.

They hugged each other.

I'll need a translator and a guide, so I have no choice. Also, I want to meet this Stalor. I'm not tripping, right?